Newly public military records are offering another look at unexplained objects encountered by U.S. forces, including a cluster reportedly moving through Middle Eastern airspace at extraordinary speed, according to the NY Post.
According to a CENTCOM account from 2025, military personnel tracked six round objects traveling together at about 480 mph. Their flight path was unusual enough to draw attention, with the objects repeatedly altering course. Military video from the encounter shows several small objects crossing the sky above an arid landscape.
The Post wrote:
A 2025 report from US Central Command (CENTCOM) details a sighting of “six small spherical objects, grouped together” and “frequently changing direction” at 480 mph. Accompanying the report was one minute of video footage showing the objects as they flew over what appeared to be a desert region.
Another video, from 2023, captured circular objects flying over the Yellow Sea that were spotted by an infrared sensor aboard a US military platform.
In a separate case that year, a Colorado police officer spent about 15 minutes recording a stationary, silent object displaying several different colored lights.
The Post writes that some of the material reaches much further back. In 1952, Navy warrant officer Delbert Newhouse filmed a formation of bright objects while traveling through Utah. The case eventually became part of Project Blue Book, the Air Force's long-running investigation into reports of unidentified objects in American skies.
Officials explored mundane explanations for the Utah footage, ranging from balloons to birds. One Air Force review ultimately attributed the objects to seagulls circling in rising air, although another examination found aspects of their brightness difficult to reconcile with ordinary birds.
The records are part of the government's continuing release of historical and more recent UAP material, providing additional documentation of sightings that military personnel and investigators have examined over decades.
***
"They" are coming for the slop-slug of a pig to take him away, wakakaka.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says Iran “must push the enemy back and deal devastating blows using our full military might” before any negotiations with the United States.
Tehran’s top security official Mohsen Rezaei tells Al Jazeera it has conveyed its conditions for resuming talks to the White House through Qatari mediators.
Rezaei says Iranian demands include an end to the war on all fronts, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the lifting of the US naval blockade on its ports.
A Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says it intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh and foiled other attacks on the cities of Bish, Taif, Farasan, and Yanbu.
5m ago
(11:25 GMT)
Middle East nations condemn Houthi attack on Riyadh
Egypt, Jordan, and Kuwait say the Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia’s capital was a threat to regional security and stability and a violation of international law.
The nations in separate statements said their governments stand with Riyadh in support of its sovereignty and protection of civilians.
The Muslim World League also condemned the attack as a violation of “all religious values as well as international and humanitarian laws and norms”.
It was the first time the Saudi capital has been targeted since the escalation in fighting in July. Saudi Arabia said the attack was intercepted. Some residents in Riyadh heard an explosion, and later some saw a plume of smoke near the airport.
There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Smoke rises from a fuel storage area at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday [Reuters]
15m ago
(11:15 GMT)
Egypt urges next steps for Gaza Strip in meeting with CIA director
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has stressed the importance of implementing the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire during a meeting with CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
El-Sisi, according to a statement by the presidency, said it’s time for the next step of “consolidating the ceasefire, protecting civilians, and ensuring adequate and unfettered access of humanitarian aid into the Strip”.
Egypt played a central role during the ceasefire negotiations that led to the Gaza agreement in October 2025.
The US Central Intelligence Agency and Egyptian General Intelligence Service cooperate on a number of issues including security, counterterrorism, and organised and transnational crime.
25m ago
(11:05 GMT)
Iranian military headquarters warns US allies against renewed attacks
Iran’s military headquarters has warned Middle East nations they’ll be “considered complicit” if the United States resumes major strikes on the country from American bases.
“We warn that if the countries of the region – by continuing their dual policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran – align with the Great Satan’s aggression against a powerful and sovereign Iran they will all be considered complicit in this evil and can no longer expect restraint or decency from Iran’s powerful armed forces,” the Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters said in a statement.
Iran’s top security chief Mohsen Rezaei laid out conditions to return to talks with the US [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]
44m ago
(10:45 GMT)
Iran’s military threatens US interests if any attack launched as tensions rise
Iran’s central military command warns any US attack will lead to Iranian retaliation “without any limitations or considerations” on American bases and interests in the Middle East, state media reports.
“Any mistake will result in painful attacks,” Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military headquarters said in a statement carried by official media.
“According to information received, the United States – seeking to cover up its failures and achieve fabricated gains in a war that was launched based on Israeli lies and stage-managing and has been sustained through deception and trickery – has once again decided, with the green light from some regional countries, to resume actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran at a joint meeting in a European country.”
SHAH ALAM: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has dismissed the possibility of political cooperation between Pakatan Harapan and Bersatu.
The Pakatan chairman was asked if Bersatu and Pakatan could join forces following Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin comments that the party was open to discussions for political cooperation, including with Pakatan.
"Bersatu with Pakatan? There is no room for that at the moment," the Prime Minister told reporters after attending a gathering of Reformasi movement pioneers here on Sunday (Sept 20), adding that the coalition's election director Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari would handle the matter
SHAH ALAM: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is expected to meet Anthony Loke Siew Fook after the Transport Minister returns from Shanghai to discuss his offer to resign from the Cabinet.
Anwar said Loke had informed him of the matter but they had not discussed it in detail.
"I understand his position. He is a man of principle and has been consistent from the start, particularly on matters that could give the impression that the government is weak or compromising in its fight against corruption," he told reporters after attending a tea gathering of Reformasi movement pioneers here on Sunday (Sept 20).
Loke, who is also DAP secretary-general, offered to resign as Transport Minister on Saturday (Sept 19) after the party held a central executive committee meeting.
This was after former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was granted a conditional pardon allowing him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
Loke said his offer was a personal decision and would not involve other DAP ministers.
He added that DAP would remain in the unity government to safeguard political stability, while ongoing projects under the Transport Ministry would continue as usual.
Asked about possible political cooperation between Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan, Anwar said; "Bersatu with Pakatan? There is no room for that at the moment," he said, adding that the coalition's election director Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari would handle the matter.
Earlier, Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the party was open to discussions for political cooperation, including with Pakatan.
Despite the doom and gloom surrounding Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, it does seem that UMNO and its coalition, Barisan Nasional's flight path has run into severe air turbulence
Updated 3 hours ago · Published on 20 Sep 2026 2:14PM
After the Johor and Negeri Sembilan polls, UMNO has shown that they have not changed at all – September 20, 2026
SHAHRIL Sufian Hamdan, the UMNO information chief when Datuk Seri Najib Razak was prime minister and UMNO president, said a couple of days ago on the popular podcast Keluar Sekejap that he sensed his former party's upward trajectory since the Johor elections in July and the Negeri Sembilan elections in August had stalled.
Or, the word he used was "discontinuity" in the trajectory.
UMNO won Johor easily and, together with other minor parties, won a two-thirds majority in Negeri Sembilan.
But, despite the doom and gloom surrounding Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, it does seem that UMNO and its coalition, Barisan Nasional's flight path has run into severe air turbulence.
The reason, as Shahril speculated, was because of the unintended consequences of the house arrest given to the convicted ex-PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak instead of letting him serve out his sentence in prison over the 1MDB scandal.
Further, the constitutional crisis ongoing in Negeri Sembilan, caused by UMNO's thus far thwarted attempts to throw out the constitutional monarch Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, has made them appear treacherous and untrustworthy, because, since its inception 80 years ago, one of the party's core pillars was upholding the constitutional monarchy.
In fact, it would seem that UMNO has betrayed four (if not all five) of the Rukun Negara, Malaysia's national ideology and pledge, introduced on August 31, 1970, to foster unity and harmony following the May 13 racial riots of 1969.
The core of the Rukun Negara consists of five guiding principles:
1. Belief in God
2. Loyalty to the King and Country
3. Supremacy of the Constitution
4. Sovereignty of the Law; and
5. Courtesy and Morality
UMNO’s conduct in Negeri Sembilan and its role in Najib’s partial pardon does demonstrate that principles two to five have certainly been trampled on and discarded.
And it's all because of hubris — the same reason they lost the general election in 2018 after being in power for 61 years since Independence.
History has shown that hubris always results in power that is ephemeral (fleeting). And nothing depicts this better than the frequently quoted 1818 poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias.
“I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert.
Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
The tragic fall of powerful civilisations, of powerful men and of powerful organisations is a theme common in history and in literature.
Umno has done well since its formation in 1946. But Umno is nothing exceptional when compared to the great civilisations and governments which have gone into oblivion and become, at best, footnotes in history.
The unremarkable performance of Anwar’s unity government since the end of 2022 gave UMNO a resurrection or a boost from frustrated voters, mostly young and impressionable.
But UMNO has not used this reboot to show Malaysians that its 2018 defeat and eight years on the periphery have changed it.
No, they showed in record time after the Johor and Negeri Sembilan polls that they have not changed at all. If anything, they are worse. – September 20, 2026
Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan is the chairman of ECM Libra Foundation and a former NSTP group editor-in-chief
Johor DAP vice-president Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should resign from the cabinet instead of Transport Minister Anthony Loke, and called on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to sack Zahid.
In a Facebook statement, Sheikh Umar said this was because Zahid had embarrassed Anwar at the recently concluded Umno general assembly, despite being his second-in-command.
“He questioned government policies. He questioned Budi95. Yet he is in the same cabinet. He made those decisions together.
“While many countries around the world respect Anwar’s leadership, Zahid belittled and made a fool of him.
“For me, Zahid should have resigned. Not Loke,” Sheikh Umar added.
He further said Anwar could remove Zahid and replace him with another Umno leader, suggesting Defence Minister Khaled Nordin or Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Johari Abdul Ghani.
“They are more committed to safeguarding the good name of the government and the country,” Sheikh Umar (below) said.
Last night, Loke said he will resign from the cabinet over the conditional pardon granted to former premier Najib Abdul Razak, but other DAP cabinet members will remain in the government.
The DAP secretary-general explained that this was to ensure that the Anwar-led government remains stable.
Open dare
During the Umno AGM on Sept 12, Zahid openly challenged the Pakatan Harapan-led coalition government to boot Umno from Putrajaya and call for snap polls.
In his winding-up speech, the BN chairperson slammed Harapan supporters who had urged Umno to exit the government and reminded them that the coalition would not be in Putrajaya without support from his coalition.
Zahid said the other parties in the coalition government only joined after BN helped Harapan secure the required majority in 2022.
If Harapan were to oust BN, the Umno president said the coalition would lose its initial foundation and thus should return the mandate to the rakyat.
“To the ‘ceplos’, this government is here because of Umno. The prime minister (Anwar) could become the premier because of Umno's support.
“You think because now you have (the support of) 153 MPs... I am not angry, I am just feeling ‘hot’,” he told the thousands of Umno delegates.
“Ceplos” is a derogatory Malay term used by rivals to describe Harapan sycophants.
Zahid further reminded Anwar that three of his MPs - Rafizi Ramli, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, and Wong Chen - have since quit PKR and vacated their Dewan Rakyat seats.
At a press conference later, Zahid said his challenge did not mean BN would table a no-confidence motion against Anwar.
Despite Umno and Harapan being partners in the federal unity government, the two parties have continued to face political competition at the state level.
In Negeri Sembilan, Umno-led BN and PAS-led Perikatan Nasional cooperated in the state election, while in Johor, PAS urged its supporters to back BN in seats where PN was not contesting.
A PKR lawmaker has urged Pakatan Harapan to take a more “offensive” approach against BN, saying that Najib Abdul Razak’s conditional pardon has given the coalition an “easy opportunity” ahead of the next general election.
Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim said the pardon had placed Umno on the defensive and could create political difficulties for the party as it prepares for the polls.
The former prime minister was granted a conditional pardon by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar on Sept 18, allowing him to serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence under house arrest, subject to paying a RM50 million fine.
“Now Umno-BN has begun to be placed on the defensive. On social media, the public has started asking: ‘When does Umno want to launch a fund to recover 1MDB's losses?’” Hassan (above) said in a statement on Facebook yesterday.
He was referring to Umno’s fundraising drive to help Najib pay the RM50 million fine. Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had called on the party’s leadership, members, and supporters to contribute to the fund.
Turning tides
Hassan said Najib’s record as Umno president was not a “glorious history”, pointing to BN’s near-loss of federal power in the 2013 general election and its defeat in 2018.
“Before Najib was granted the pardon, Anwar Ibrahim, as prime minister, PKR president, and Harapan chairperson, was extremely defensive. He was openly and incessantly criticised on social media every single day.
“Now, the tide has turned. When Najib was granted a pardon and given relief from his sentence, sympathy for him over being incarcerated suddenly evaporated and vanished.
“The public has grown angry seeing that the country's justice system has two tiers: one for the ordinary rakyat, and another for the political elite from the aristocratic class,” he said.
Between Najib and Anwar
Claiming that the “de facto leader of Umno” is now Najib instead of Zahid, Hassan added that the rakyat are now presented with two leadership options: Najib or Anwar.
“The judgment now lies in the hands of the people themselves. Which of the two can lead Malaysia toward a better path?” he questioned.
Hassan further described Najib as a “burden” not only for Umno but also for PAS, which has advocated greater political cooperation with Umno as part of efforts to unite the Malay-Muslim electorate.
“How can Umno and PAS now talk about a clean, trustworthy, transparent, efficient, and fair government when Najib has now reappeared before the eyes of the public as a suspicious symbol for a self-proclaimed government-in-waiting?” he said.
The PAS election director and Kedah menteri besar says the party is involved in 'firecracker politics'
PAS election director Sanusi Nor said DAP’s latest move shows the party frequently flip-flops on its political decisions.
PETALING JAYA: PAS election director Sanusi Nor has mocked DAP’s decision for only its secretary-general, Loke Siew Fook, to resign from the Cabinet over former prime minister Najib Razak’s conditional pardon, describing it as “firecracker politics”.
Sanusi compared the move with housing and local government minister Nga Kor Ming’s previous announcement that he would resign, although he ultimately did not.
The Kedah menteri besar said DAP’s latest move showed that the party frequently flip-flopped on its political decisions.
“Nga said the same thing before. He didn’t resign either. They act as if they’re going to take action, but nothing gets done. It’s firecracker politics. Lots of noise, then silence,” he told FMT.
“DAP plays flip-flop politics. Next, they’ll find an excuse not to resign. Before this, they said they wanted to leave the government. Then they found an excuse not to.”
After a three-hour DAP central executive committee meeting yesterday, Loke, who is the transport minister, announced that he would resign from the Cabinet.
The decision followed calls for DAP to take broader action, including leaving the government, over Najib’s conditional pardon.
Loke described his resignation as a “responsible” move and said DAP would remain in the government.
Najib, 73, was granted a conditional pardon by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Friday, allowing him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence in the SRC International case under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, subject to payment of his RM50 million fine and other conditions.
The legal affairs division of the Prime Minister’s Department said Najib must comply with all the conditions imposed, failing which the conditional pardon would be revoked. It did not provide details of the conditions.
Najib was imprisoned in August 2022 after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million belonging to SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
He has been serving a reduced six-year sentence at Kajang prison after the Federal Territories Pardons Board halved his original 12-year sentence in February 2024. His initial RM210 million fine was also reduced to RM50 million.
Malaysian Chinese women had a total fertility rate of 0.8 last year, well below the 2.1 replacement level generally needed to maintain a stable population.
From Chin Yee Mun
According to demographic transition theory (DDT), birth rates are expected to decline as a society shifts from an agrarian to an industrial economy, with this change affecting the size and composition of its population.
In an agrarian society, birth rates are high but are also accompanied by high death rates. As a result, population growth was minimal in most societies at the time.
This began to change as societies moved towards industrial economies. Better healthcare meant lower death rates, while birth rates remained more or less unchanged.
However, this trend eventually began to change. Besides better healthcare, industrialisation brought urbanisation, improved education, modern lifestyles and, most importantly, changes in values. Individualism took root as industrialisation empowered such a culture.
As a result, birth rates began to decline. This is particularly visible among Malaysian Chinese. The decline in childbirth among the Chinese in Malaysia, as well as elsewhere, became apparent in the 1980s. The total fertility rate (TFR) among Malaysian Chinese women was 3.3 in 1980. Two decades later, it had fallen to 2.1.
According to the WHO, a TFR of 2.1 is generally considered the replacement level needed for a population to maintain its size over the long term, assuming no migration. If the TFR falls below this level, a population will eventually begin to shrink and age.
Unfortunately, the Chinese community’s TFR has continued to decline. Last year, the TFR among Chinese women was 0.8.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Reports from the statistics department show that the number of Malaysian Chinese has been declining since 2021. Migration is certainly one factor contributing to this decline, but the bigger factor is likely the fall in the Chinese birth rate.
In other words, the Chinese population is now at the “free-fall” stage. In DDT, this refers to a possible fifth stage.
According to the theory, some societies may see birth rates increase after the fourth stage, while others may continue to experience declines. Unfortunately, DDT describes these trends but does not explain why they occur.
Based on my analysis of the Chinese community in Malaysia, as well as Chinese communities across the Sinosphere, I believe I can offer an explanation.
For me, the Chinese have moved into hypermodernity. I took this term from Gilles Lipovetsky, who defined hypermodernity as an era characterised by the following:
Hyper-individualism: An intense focus on personal freedom, self-realisation and immediate gratification.
Hyper-consumerism: Consumption driven not only by status, but also by emotional experiences, health, wellness and constant novelty.
Hyper-technologisation: Technology operating at breakneck speed, redefining time, space and human interaction.
At present, particularly among younger Chinese people, hyper-individualism is increasingly evident. This can be observed in their lifestyles, including the pursuit of immediate gratification and an aversion to responsibilities. They are also driven by hyper-consumerism, sometimes consuming beyond their means.
Technology appears to reinforce these tendencies by connecting people while constantly exposing them to new products and experiences designed to provide gratification.
When such behaviour takes hold, values change.
Chinese values traditionally prioritised family, with starting a family often seen as a natural responsibility.
In a hypermodern world, however, this view is becoming less influential. Family can instead be perceived as a burden or an obstacle to personal gratification and the consumption of goods and experiences that provide satisfaction.
Hence, a subculture of anti-familism appears to be growing among Chinese youth. It may have been started by individuals who view the family as an institution that undermines happiness and life satisfaction.
This can be seen on social media, where various videos encourage singlehood and portray marriage as awful or destructive.
When such messages become widespread, they can validate the idea that it is acceptable to remain single, not start a family and not have children.
Hyper-consumerism may also contribute to the perception that raising children is financially unaffordable. For many Chinese families, raising a child is associated with spending on expensive preschools, private schools and universities.
While wanting to provide the best for one’s children is commendable, these expectations can also become a convenient justification for choosing not to have children.
This problem is now spreading to other communities in Malaysia. The Indian community faces a similar problem, with declining birth rates and a shrinking population. Similar trends are also emerging among Malays and the Bumiputera communities in Sabah and Sarawak.
In my view, measures to address or at least contain this problem must go beyond financial incentives. Many developing countries do not face the same low-birth-rate problem, while the issue is particularly pronounced in upper-middle-income and developed countries.
Hence, the problem is not simply about income. It is about the broader social ecology.
We need to bring hypermodernity under control by addressing hyper-individualism, hyper-consumerism and the influence of technology, particularly social media. At the same time, other measures could help create an environment that is more conducive to starting families and having children.
For example, childcare costs could be reduced by allowing childcare centres to operate in or near workplaces.
Tax and financial incentives could also be introduced as part of a broader effort to improve this social ecology, making it more conducive to forming families and having children rather than relying on them as the primary means of addressing the problem.
Chin Yee Mun is an associate professor and the director of the Tun Tan Cheng Lock Institute of Social Studies at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.
![Mohsen Rezaei laid out Iran's conditions to return to talks with the US [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-20-at-12.04.05-PM-1-1789895182.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
/file/attachments/orphans/zahidspeechatumnoagm2026091101_624162.png)
/file/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2026/08/8794292cccc18d59fa26dc36b2bc5414.jpg)
/file/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2026/07/4033000799fcca190f0595116ce3f79f.jpg)
/file/attachments/orphans/anwar132423_232628.jpg)
/file/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2026/05/386d19bef2dc7e610f28c0ecfef49e4f.jpg)
/file/attachments/885/21b19b34863fbfe33994ba7c690155e4_980033.png)
/file/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2019/08/47486d198643b67639fb268b372738f0.jpg)
